Maul Animated Series! Four Star Wars Series Coming in the Next Two Years!!
May the Force be with you! Yesterday was May the 4th, "Star Wars Day," so let me introduce four Star Wars animations and live-action series set to premiere in the next two years.
Last month, Star Wars Celebration took place in Tokyo, Japan. During the event, Lucasfilm held multiple press conferences, announcing upcoming films, animations, and series for the next few years. Compared to Star Wars Celebrations in previous years, Lucasfilm was more cautious this year, only announcing projects that are already or about to begin filming and production, including the following four animations and series:
Star Wars: Visions Season 3, Premiering October 29th on Disney+
Like the first season, the third season of this animated anthology series will have all its episodes produced by Japanese animation studios. This season will consist of 9 episodes, with three of them being sequels to the first season's episodes: "The Duel," "The Village Bride," and "The Ninth Jedi."
The 9 episodes of this season include:
“The Duel: Payback”: Ronin continues to pursue and defeat Sith, but must call a truce with his latest adversary, a Sith named Aneé-san, in order to face his greatest foe – a twisted Jedi known as The Grand Master.
“The Lost Ones”: “F” confronts her former Master – a new character named Shad-Rah -- when the refugee ship she is on is intercepted by the Empire.
“The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope”: Kara gets separated from Juro while being pursued by Jedi hunters and encounters a mysterious droid named Teto on an abandoned ship.
“Yuko’s Treasure”
"The Smuggler": A desperate smuggler was hired to bring a wanted young prince to safety as the Empire pursues.
“The Bounty Hunters”: A bounty hunter named Sevn and his rather odd sidekick named IV-A4 are offered a job by a slightly unusual businessman.
“The Song of Four Wings”: Rebel princess Crane and her droid sidekick, Tor-Tu, investigate the Empire’s movements on a snowy planet where the rebels are based.
“The Bird of Paradise”: A hot-headed Jedi Padawan who, after being blinded in battle, must undergo a series of spiritual trials in order to overcome the temptation to the dark side.
“BLACK”: It explors a stormtrooper's experience in combat, delving into a deep internal struggle within his psyche. He battles past vs. present, light vs. dark, and life vs. death.
Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord, Premiering in 2026 on Disney+
This animated series continues Maul's (Sam Witwer) storyline from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, depicting him rebuilding his criminal syndicate on planets outside the Empire's jurisdiction. Maul is the villain from Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, the apprentice of Sith Lord Darth Sidious, and seemingly killed by Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) in the finale. However, he returned in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, seeking revenge on Obi-Wan with his brother Savage Opress. He later formed the Shadow Collective, a criminal syndicate, defeated Pre Vizsla to become the leader of the Mandalorians, and ruled Mandalore. However, Darth Sidious later discovered Maul's survival, arrived on Mandalore, defeated Maul, and killed Savage Opress. In the final season of The Clone Wars, Maul was initially captured by Ahsoka Tano and the Republic, but due to Darth Sidious's Order 66, Ahsoka became an enemy of the Republic, allowing Maul to escape amidst the chaos.
Maul also made a brief appearance in Solo: A Star Wars Story, where he continued to be the leader of the Crimson Dawn criminal syndicate, the figure to whom the female lead Qi'ra (Emilia Clarke) was loyal. It is believed that this animated series will take place within the years between Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Solo: A Star Wars Story, focusing on Maul and his criminal syndicate.
Star Wars: Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi, Premiering in 2026 on Disney+
During the Star Wars: Visions panel at Star Wars Celebration, Lucasfilm announced that they will produce an animated series based on the first season's episode "The Ninth Jedi." Kenji Kamiyama, the director of that episode and the animated film The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim released last year, will serve as the supervising director.
"The Ninth Jedi" tells the story of Kara, the daughter of a lightsaber-smith, who is hunted by dark forces while on a dangerous mission. The upcoming season 3 of Star Wars: Visions will include a sequel to "The Ninth Jedi" titled "The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope," and this newly announced animated series will continue Kara's story, depicting her search for her father who has been kidnapped by the Sith.
Ahsoka Season 2, Premiere Date TBA
Filming for the second season of this series is currently underway, and it is believed to premiere as early as 2026. The series continues the storyline from the animated series Star Wars Rebels. The first season primarily focused on Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) and others searching for Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi), while also setting up the return of the villain Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen). At the end of the first season, Thrawn successfully escaped Peridea and traveled to the Nightsisters' planet Dathomir; Ezra also escaped and was reunited with Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead).
During the Star Wars Celebration panel, the production team announced that Game of Thrones star Rory McCann will take over the role of former Jedi Knight Baylan Skoll, replacing Ray Stevenson, who sadly passed away in 2023. This character found massive statues of the Mortis gods on the planet Peridea at the end of the first season, and it is believed that this season will continue to explore the origins of the Force, with the important Mortis gods, Father, Son, and Daughter, from previous Star Wars animated series also appearing. Additionally, Admiral Ackbar from the main trilogy and Zeb (Steve Blum) from Star Wars Rebels will also appear in this season, and Hayden Christensen, the star of the prequel trilogy, will return as Anakin Skywalker.
In addition to the above animations and series, Lucasfilm will also release two Star Wars films in May 2026 and 2027 respectively: The 2026 film, The Mandalorian and Grogu, will continue the storyline of the series The Mandalorian. It is directed by the showrunner of that series and director of the Iron Man series, Jon Favreau. In addition to the return of the two protagonists Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu, the aforementioned character Zeb will also appear, and Alien series star Sigourney Weaver will also be part of the cast. The 2027 film, Star Wars: Starfighter, will be directed by Shawn Levy, the director of Deadpool & Wolverine, and will star Golden Globe winner Ryan Gosling (La La Land). The story will take place five years after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Finally, Lucasfilm recently released the following two Star Wars projects on Disney+:
Andor Season 2, with three episodes released every Tuesday on Disney+
This season will consist of 12 episodes, with every three episodes being considered a separate story, each taking place a year apart. The final three episodes will directly set up the plot of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. In addition to the returning cast from the first season, Ben Mendelsohn and Alan Tudyk will also return to play their Rogue One characters Orson Krennic and K-2SO. This season has a Metacritic critic score of 92, higher than any other Star Wars project.
Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld, now available on Disney+
This animated anthology series is similar to the previous Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi and Star Wars: Tales Of the Empire, but this time it focuses on the stories of underworld bounty hunters Asajj Ventress (voiced by Nika Futterman) and Cad Bane (voiced by Corey Burton). Asajj Ventress is a major villain in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the apprentice of Sith Lord Count Dooku (voiced by Corey Burton), but the two later became enemies, and Asajj became a bounty hunter. This character also appeared in one episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch. Cad Bane is also a major villain in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and later appeared in Star Wars: The Bad Batch and the live-action series The Book of Boba Fett, where he was killed by Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison).
If you are interested in upcoming TV series to be released in Canada, please visit the TV Premiere Schedule page on this website!
Photo: Star Wars
Source: Metacritic, Star Wars